


All work and no play

by ebonyfeather



Category: Primeval
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-08-29
Updated: 2013-08-29
Packaged: 2017-12-25 01:10:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 12,360
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/946856
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ebonyfeather/pseuds/ebonyfeather
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A chance meeting in a bar gives Lester's life a new direction.</p>
            </blockquote>





	All work and no play

**Author's Note:**

> A few visuals, for those who are interested-  
> \- [The original characters I use ](http://ebonyfeather.livejournal.com/41392.html)   
> \- [Will Andrews ](http://ic.pics.livejournal.com/ebonyfeather/20281238/39318/39318_original.jpg)  
> \- [Lester's puppy](http://ic.pics.livejournal.com/ebonyfeather/20281238/39006/39006_original.jpg)  
> (links go to livejournal)

 

Lester stood by the bar, on the outskirts of the group, wondering how on earth they had talked him into coming to this dreadful place. The meal beforehand had been lovely, in a rather pleasant little restaurant nearby. He was impressed by Connor’s choice; at home, the young man’s idea of fine cuisine was adding Worcester sauce to his beans on toast and so Lester had been wary upon learning that he had chosen the restaurant. 

 

Everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves, deciding that they weren’t ready to go home yet and moving on to the bar. He had attempted to say his goodbyes then, but his team had objected. For reasons he couldn’t fathom, they seemed to want him to come along. Why they wanted their boss to come with them he wasn’t sure but the fact was that they made him feel like part of the team. He found that he rather liked it. So, he followed them to the bar. He had been in here once or twice before and so was expecting a quiet drink but that was then. The bouncers on the door should have been a clue.

 

Inside, fit-inducing strobe lighting pulsed through the smoke that was constantly being pumped out of the wall-mounted smoke machines. The music was so loud that Lester could feel it vibrating through the floor. Not that he could call it music, not by any stretch of the imagination. Music had melodies and lyrics, he thought; this whatever-it-was had apparently been created by someone who thought that if the beat was loud enough it would drown out the fact that she could only remember the same six words throughout the entire song.

 

He watched the others, his team of civilians and soldiers, dancing and laughing and thought that they didn’t need him hanging around. He’d been here an hour- surely that was long enough? He must have looked as though he were contemplating an escape as Connor came bouncing up to him, Abby following closely. Sarah was just behind them, her eyes slightly unfocussed and a wide smile on her face. Lester sighed; three against one just wasn’t fair. 

 

“You can’t go yet! It’s early,” Connor yelled over the top of the music. 

 

Sarah downed the rest of the beer in the bottle she held and put it on the bar beside Lester, freeing her hand to grab at one of his.

 

“Come and dance,” she said, smiling and tugging at his hand. 

 

Lester shook his head. _I should have left when I first thought about it._ “I don’t dance,” he told her, resorting to a glare when she didn’t take the hint. The three of them wandered away into the crowd and Lester turned back to the bar. If he was going to be here much longer, he really needed another drink.

 

“A beautiful woman asks you to dance and that was the best you could come up with?” an amused voice beside him asked. 

 

Lester turned to the speaker, a man in his late thirties, and frowned at him. The stranger just smiled, not looking intimidated in the least.

 

“Not your kind of place, I take it?” the man observed.

 

Lester took his change from the bartender and picked up his whisky. The man didn’t seem to fit in here, much like himself he supposed. “Not in the slightest.”

 

The man said something else that was almost lost in the synthesised drums coming from the speakers above the bar and Lester missed it. He had found that even whilst ordering drinks, holding a conversation with someone in this place was half listening and half lip-reading. Unfortunately, having to focus on the man’s mouth had the side effect of Lester’s brain pointing out that he had a lovely smile. Lester shoved that little voice back, ignoring it as he asked the man to repeat what he had just said.

 

The man began to repeat himself and then thought better of it, leaning in closer so that Lester could hear him. 

 

“Drink up and come with me.”

 

~.~

 

Lester sank down onto the faux-leather bench seat and heaved a sigh of relief. Peace and quiet at last, he thought; that dreadful music was no longer threatening to rattle the fillings out of his teeth. He felt slightly guilty about leaving the team but he didn’t think that they wouldn’t miss him, not really. They would have more fun without their boss there.

 

“Better?” the man asked as he sat down on the seat at the opposite side of the low table. “You looked so uncomfortable in there that I thought I’d rescue you.”

 

This small pub was just a two minute walk from the club but it seemed like a million miles away. It was slightly dingy and dark, the atmosphere subdued, and Lester was sure that the beer glasses would have fingerprints on them. When he got his pint, he discovered with distaste that he was right, discreetly polishing the smudge off with his shirt cuff.

 

“Well, thank you.”

 

“You’re welcome,” the man said. “I’m Will, by the way.”

 

“James,” Lester told him. “So, I feel compelled to ask, if you disliked that place so much, why-?”

 

“Why go there in the first place?” Will finished for him. “I could ask you the same thing. You weren’t exactly having fun.”

 

Lester took another sip of his beer. “It’s a work event. Somehow, I was persuaded to go with them after the meal.”

 

“And the beautiful woman…?”

 

“One of my employees.”

 

Will nodded. “Is that why you wouldn’t dance with her?” There was a gleam in his eye and a smile twitching at his lips as he continued. “Or maybe it was the asker. Would you have danced if I’d asked you?”

 

Lester stared at him for a moment, not sure how to respond. His first instinct was to say ‘I’m married’, ‘I’m straight’ or ‘I’m not interested’ but none of them would be strictly true, would they? He was separated, he and his wife living in separate counties for the past few months. As for the rest, he had noticed that this man was handsome, with his light brown hair and hazel eyes and lovely smile, and he did look good in that smart white shirt with the black leather jacket over the top. It wouldn’t be the first time he’d looked, either, would it? a little voice pointed out, demolishing his last two arguments. 

 

“Hey, I was just teasing,” Will told him at Lester’s lack of response. “Sorry.”

 

It turned out that Will was an interesting man to talk to and Lester found himself enjoying his company. Their tastes in music and literature were fairly similar, with a few exceptions.  

 

“You never did tell me why you were there,” Lester asked about an hour later.

 

“My brother; I’m staying with him temporarily until I can move into my new place, so he said to come and meet him here but I didn’t feel like interrupting. He’s with his mates. I’ve no choice but to hang around as he somehow conned me into driving him home, too,” Will said, indicating to the glass of orange juice he was drinking. “I can’t even have a proper drink.”

 

~.~

 

Some time later, the pub door opened letting in a cool draft from outside. The sound of laughter and voices grew closer, approaching their quiet little corner.

 

“There you are; I got your text- Oh, sorry. I didn’t mean to interrupt.” There was a pause. “Lester?”

 

The two men looked up to see Mark, Becker, and Luke. The three soldiers looked between Lester and Will curiously.

 

“You know each other?” Mark asked. 

 

Will turned to Lester. “This would be my brother.”

 

“We’ve met,” Lester said.

 

Mark smirked at his brother. “I hope you’re behaving yourself because Lester is my boss.”

 

Will rolled his eyes. “Of course I’m behaving. There’s only one person in our family likely to make a prat of himself, right, little brother?” He glanced at Lester and smiled. “I wish I’d known that you knew him, James. Oh, the stories I could have told you.”

 

Lester caught the horrified look on the soldier’s face and found himself intrigued.

 

“We’re heading home,” Mark told them in a desperate change of subject. “You still okay to drive me?” he asked his brother. “I could call a taxi instead.”

 

Will insisted he didn’t mind and the three men left to go and collect the others. Lester realised he should really go with them as he was supposed to be taking a taxi home with Connor. Taking his keys from his jacket pocket, Will smiled at Lester. 

 

“It was nice meeting you,” he said. “Maybe we should do this again sometime.”

 

Lester just stared at him. He wanted to say yes; he had enjoyed talking to Will, finding him an interesting companion. What made him hesitate was the little voice in the back of his mind that told him that wasn’t exactly what Will had in mind.

 

“That would be nice,” he heard himself say.

 

~.~

 

Two weeks later, Lester left the ARC, absently hunting in his briefcase for his car keys as he crossed the car park, when he heard his name being called. Will was leaning casually against the front of a red Jeep, three spaces away from where his car was parked.

 

“What are you doing here?”

 

Will rolled his eyes. “Waiting for Mark. I moved into my new flat today I borrowed his Jeep since it’s bigger than my car. Now I have to give him a ride home. I’ve been waiting out here for the last hour, though. I’m starting to think he’s forgotten.”

 

“We had a bit of an emergency,” Lester told him. An anomaly had opened in the middle of a shopping street but luckily no one had been injured and the creatures had been rounded up quickly. The last time Lester had seen Mark Andrews, just after they got back to the ARC, he and Becker had been unloading the equipment back into the armoury before going to do the hand-over to the night team. “He could be some time yet.”

 

“Wonderful,” Will sighed. “Is there a bus stop near here? I’ll just leave the car for him and go home.”

 

Lester had no idea. He wasn’t the kind of person who ever used buses.

 

“Where do you live? I’ll leave the keys with security for him to collect and I’ll give you a lift home.”

 

~.~

 

Will’s flat was a mess of boxes and crates, all still to be unpacked. He directed Lester to the living room. That room was almost tidy and looking normal, mostly unpacked apart from a couple of boxes that had been pushed behind the sofa out of sight.

 

“There’s still a lot to do,” Will said. “Mark and a few of the lads were going to come over and give me a hand but they had to work. I was hoping that he’d come later but you said he might be stuck at work for a while.”

 

Still unsure of why he was doing this, Lester put his briefcase down and took off his jacket.

 

“I’ll bet that if I gave you a hand, we could have a couple more rooms liveable,” he said, cutting off Will’s protests that he really didn’t need to do that. “Nonsense; consider it a thank you for rescuing me from the club the other night.”

 

Will smiled. “It would be nice to get this place sorted out. And I’ll order us some dinner, to say thank you.”

 

They worked for a few hours, enough time to get the kitchen and a bedroom useable. Even if there were still a lot of things left to put away in each, Will would at least be able to use the rooms tonight. From the times that Lester had moved house before, he remembered it being a lot worse than this, but he actually enjoyed himself. After spending all of his days sitting behind a desk or in meetings, it was rather pleasant to do a couple of hours of physical work. That said, he was grateful to be able to stop when the doorbell rang to signal the arrival of their Thai takeaway food. Will made them mugs of tea in his newly tidied kitchen, carrying them through to the living room.

 

“I don’t know how long this place will stay tidy,” Will commented, looking around, before explaining for Lester’s benefit, “I have a dog, Ruby; she’s a ruby coloured Cavalier King Charles Spaniel- Mark has her at the moment. I couldn’t bring her until I was settled as she had puppies just over a week ago and I didn’t want to move her just yet. It would stress her and the pups out with being in the middle of this mess.”

 

Lester must have made some kind of expression of interest as Will laughed. “I can give you a call when I bring them over, if you want to come and see them. Oh, come on- I saw that look on your face when I mentioned puppies.”

 

Lester felt his cheeks flush slightly.

 

The following weekend, Lester sat on Will’s sofa with a mug of tea, Will next to him and the empty pizza box on the table in front of them. He had spent most of the past week at Will’s flat, helping him to get it in order, along with Mark, Becker and Danny. The three of them had hurried away each evening, leaving him and Will to talk over a takeaway or just a cup of tea.

 

He told himself that he was just being friendly, offering some company to a man who obviously didn’t know anyone nearby aside from his brother. In reality it was nice to talk to someone who was closer to his own age and who held many of the same interests. 

 

Ruby had been brought over by Mark yesterday, along with her seven tiny puppies. Their eyes were still closed, little wriggling pink-bellied ginger puppies, all fidgeting around in their basket, cuddling up to their mother. Lester had to admit that he was more excited about it than he had expected but they were adorable. Unfortunately, they weren’t old enough yet to leave Ruby and go exploring outside the safety of their basket. Now that part, he was looking forward to even more, when they would be old enough to play with.  

 

“James, do you have a tuxedo?” Will asked, somewhat out of the blue, as they drank their tea.

 

Lester frowned. “Yes, why?”

 

“There is a black-tie dinner next Friday and I wondered if you would like to come with me. It’s a work event; we have one of these every year-” He paused, looking over as though to gauge Lester’s reaction. “It sounds dull, I know- dinner with a load of financial advisors- but it’s at a five star hotel where the food is fantastic and there’s a never ending supply of Champagne. And, best of all, they’re footing the bill.”

 

It did sound tempting; it had been a long time since Lester had attended an event such as that. After he accepted leadership of the ARC project, such invitations from his political and social contacts had dwindled. 

 

“Don’t you have someone else you’d rather take? You’ve only known me for a short time.”

 

Will shook his head. “Unfortunately, most of my friends were also Julian’s,” he said, adding, only half-jokingly, “and he got custody of them after we broke up.” 

 

Lester wasn’t really sure what to say to that. “How long were you together?”

 

“Two and a half years. Then I found out he’d been fucking around behind my back and so I packed up my things and left. Hence my sleeping on Mark’s sofa until this place was available to move into.”

 

“I’ve been married to my wife for thirteen years in October,” Lester told him, sympathising.

 

Will looked surprised and Lester saw his eyes flick briefly to Lester’s ring finger, frowning when he saw nothing there.

 

“We have been separated for the past eight months,” he continued. “Our lawyer is drafting the divorce papers as we speak.”

 

“Wow. Thirteen years is a long time just to end it like that.”

 

Lester shrugged his shoulders. “Actually, I think it was for the best. Don’t get me wrong, I still care deeply for her but we’re better off as friends. It’s certainly easier on the children not to have us either fighting or ignoring each other all of the time.”

 

“You have kids?”

 

“A girl and a boy, aged twelve and nine,” Lester told him. 

 

They both sat in silence for a few moments, musing on their failed love lives, before Will laughed. “A fine pair we make, sitting here moping. So, how about it? The invitation is still open, if you want it; I think we both could use a night out.”

 

In a spur of the moment decision, Lester said yes. 

 

~.~

 

By the following morning, Lester had begun to wonder if maybe that hadn’t been such a good idea. He wasn’t stupid; he knew that even though Will hadn’t said it explicitly, the invitation for it to be something more than friends was there, just below the surface. Lester wasn’t sure what he thought about that. It wouldn’t the first time he’d been attracted to a man but he discounted youthful experimentation as just that. His main concern was in what others would think. Will was Lieutenant Andrews’s brother. Would that make things awkward at the ARC? And would it diminish his authority when they began to speculate, as he just knew that they would do?

 

It was this internal debate that found him sitting in the kitchen that morning with Connor. He wondered how exactly it had come to this: He was discussing his potential love life with Connor Temple, of all people.

 

“Well, I reckon you should go,” Connor told him, waving his breakfast spoon to emphasise his point. 

 

Lester ducked the droplet of milk that flicked from Connor’s spoon, frowning and making Connor hurriedly put the spoon back into his cereal bowl.

 

“Sorry. I still think you should go, though. I mean, it sounds fun! Posh clobber, swanky hotel, food, drink…”

 

“But what are people going to think?” Lester asked. “I do not wish to be the subject of gossip in the break room, or the topic of Becker’s men’s tawdry locker room speculation.”

 

Connor rolled his eyes. “Why would you be? Because you’re still legally married, or because Will is a bloke? ‘Cos let me tell you, no one could care less that he’s a he, and you’re practically divorced anyway. Or you will be in a few weeks when the papers come though.”

 

Lester couldn’t believe that someone such as Connor, the man who had taken three years just to work up the courage to confess his feelings to Abby, was so astute when it came to other people’s problems. 

 

“They are likely to find it strange after I was married to my wife for so long that I suddenly begin to date a man.”

 

Connor smiled. “So it’s the fact he’s a bloke that’s bothering you. Lester, they really won’t care about that. You don’t see them having a problem with the fact that Danny and Becker are at it like bunnies, do you?”

 

“Why thank you, Connor, for putting that image into my head,” Lester told him sarcastically.

 

Connor just grinned at him and took his cereal bowl to the sink. 

 

“All I’m trying to say is that it won’t make a difference what you decide, not to us.”

 

~.~

 

On Friday evening, Lester waited impatiently for Connor, fussing with his tie as he did so. They had decided that it would be easier for Lester to drive over to Will’s and then they could take a taxi to the dinner rather than one of them driving, leaving them both free to have a drink. It also meant that Lester could deliver Will a puppy-sitter as well. Connor had volunteered as soon as he heard that Will didn’t want to leave Ruby on her own. Or rather, as soon as he’d heard the word ‘puppies’.

 

“Stop fiddling with your tie,” Connor told him, batting Lester’s hand away and straightening it again. “You look fine.”

 

Lester glared at him, more for something to do than having any real annoyance. 

 

“Oh, and if you want me to make myself scarce later on, just text me and I can stay out of the way tonight, give you two the place to yourselves,” Connor added with a smirk. This time, Lester’s glare was intentional.

 

Lester opened his mouth to tell him that this wasn’t a date, but he couldn’t. He spent almost half of his evenings and weekends with Will, either helping him at his flat or going for a drink or some food but, as yet, that was it. Tonight, he’d known for a while, was different. It had started out as just a night out, but it wasn’t. This was a date or as near as could be without either of them actually calling it one. 

 

A glance at his watch told him that they needed to be on their way and he shooed Connor out of the door, locking it behind him.

 

~.~

 

It didn’t take long to get to Will’s flat and Will was waiting for them, looking quite dashing in his tux, Lester thought. Connor must have seen the smile on his face because he grinned, waggling his eyebrows suggestively.

 

“Connor, I really appreciate this,” Will told him as the younger man looked into the puppies’ pen, where their basket was, with a huge smile on his face. “I’ve left my mobile number and the hotel number next to the phone just in case.”

 

Connor waved his hands at them. “We’ll be fine- I’ve got some books to read and Return of the Jedi on DVD. Now you two kids go on and have fun,” he told them with a mischievous grin, calling after them as they went out to the waiting taxi, “And don’t do anything I wouldn’t do!”

 

Lester turned to glare at him but he’d already shut the door. “Tell me again why I let him live with me?”

 

Will laughed. “He’s just teasing. Besides, it was good of him to watch the pups tonight.”

 

“You might not be saying that when you see what a mess he can make if left unsupervised,” Lester informed him as they got into the taxi. 

 

Twenty minutes later, they got out in front of the Park Plaza Hotel, following the directions to the function room where the dinner was being held. Before they went in, Will put a hand on Lester’s arm to stop him, leading him away from the other people for a moment.

 

“I was meaning to ask before this,” he began, “but how do you want me to introduce you when we go in? Friend? Date? Plus-one?”

 

Lester had been wondering that exact same thing all the way over here. “If it’s alright with you, how about we try ‘date’ and see how it feels?”

 

Will nodded, smiling. “Date it is, then. I meant to say earlier… you look very handsome in that tux.”

 

“I was thinking the same about you,” Lester replied as they walked into the function room side by side.

 

A hostess met them at the door, offering them a glass of champagne from the tray that the man next to her held, before asking for their names so that she could show them to their table. They sat for a few minutes, chatting to the other people at their table before Will looked across the room and smiled at someone in the group standing near to the bar.

 

“If you want to go and say hello, I can entertain myself for a while,” Lester told him. “I really don’t mind.”

 

“Actually, I was hoping you’d come with me,” Will said, pointing out a woman in a red satin evening dress and long blonde hair. “Amanda is dying to meet you.”

 

Lester couldn’t help but smile as he teased, “So, you’ve been talking about me?”

 

“Maybe a little,” Will admitted, looking embarrassed. “Amanda kept trying to set me up with her friends and so I told her I was seeing someone. I hope you don’t mind.”

 

“So, according to Amanda’s viewpoint, how long have we been dating?”

 

The pink tinge to Will’s cheeks darkened slightly. “About a month. I told her about meeting you in the club and didn’t bother to correct her when she assumed that it was more than it was.”

 

“And if you tell her now, she’s going to be annoyed that you lied to her.” When Will nodded, Lester smiled at him. “Well we can’t have that, can we?” he said, slipping his arm around Will, he allowed his hand to settle at the small of Will’s back to urge him to start moving through the crowd. 

 

~.~

 

Lester felt like a teenager, sneaking out of the party with his date with the excuse of going for a bit of fresh air, but he really did need some. He’d had a little too much Champagne and it had gone straight to his head, which meant that when Will suggested escaping for a while, he’d agreed. Luckily, it wasn’t just him; Will seemed to be a bit tipsy as well.

 

“Are you enjoying yourself?” Will asked as they made their way out to the hotel gardens, following the path through the flowerbeds and trees. 

 

It was getting dark out here, but there were outdoor lights positioned around the grounds, making it bright enough to see clearly. Lester looked over at Will, seeing his slightly flushed cheeks and happy smile, leaning over impulsively and kissing him.

 

“I am,” he said. “Thank you.”

 

Will studied him for a moment, as though assessing him, before crowding Lester back against the tree behind him and kissing him again. His hands rested on Lester’s sides, under his jacket, and he could feel the heat of them through his shirt. Lester’s arms circled Will’s waist, desire overriding his sensibilities as he slid his hands down onto Will’s arse, pulling him closer. The tree was rough against his back but he didn’t care as Will pressed against him in all the right places. 

 

When Will finally pulled back from him he rested his forehead against Lester’s, catching his breath. 

 

“We should stop this before we get carried away,” he said, sounding reluctant.

 

As much as he wanted to argue and to go back to what they were doing, Lester agreed. If they were caught doing what he knew they both wanted to do next out here, both of them would be in trouble. Will’s boss and colleagues were just inside, and if Lester’s superiors at the Home Office heard about it, he could kiss his position at the ARC goodbye. 

 

“You’re right. Though I think a walk around the garden before we go back inside would be a good idea,” he observed as he tugged his jacket over the tenting of his trousers, noticing that Will was having similar problems.

 

Will glanced down at himself and laughed. “Good idea. And maybe when we get home, we could pick up where we left off?”

 

Lester smiled, straightening Will’s jacket collar for him. “Count on it.”

 

~.~

 

A couple of hours later the party began to wind down, guests starting to head for home. Lester and Will said goodbye to a few people before going out to meet their taxi.

 

“Thank you for tonight,” Lester told him. “I had a lovely time.”

 

Will nodded his head in the direction of the shadows at the side of the building backing up and waiting for Lester to follow him before drawing him in for a kiss.

 

A car horn made them both jump, hastily moving apart. The taxi driver leaned out of his window, smirking at them both, as he asked, “Taxi for Will Andrews.”

 

As they both got in, Will giving his address to the driver, the man flashed them both an amused smile. “’Thought I’d better get your attention before you fellas got too busy.”

 

~.~

 

When they got back to Will’s flat they found Connor asleep on the sofa, stretched out on his back, his feet overhanging the armrest and debris scattered on the floor next to him. 

 

“I told you so,” Lester pointed out as he stepped over a couple of magazines to wake Connor.

 

As he shook Connor’s shoulder, the young man woke suddenly. In his haste to scramble upright, he rolled off the sofa and landed on the floor with a curse. While he was sitting on the floor he quickly scraped the assorted magazines, books, pens, notepads and DVD’s into a pile and stuffed them into his backpack.

 

“Sorry; I didn’t mean to fall asleep. I have been checking on the puppies, though,” he said. “They’re so cute! Can I come back to see them when they’re big enough to play with? Lester, can I get a puppy?”

 

“I don’t know if Sid and Nancy would appreciate a new playmate, do you?” Lester asked in an attempt to put him off and saw Connor’s smile fade a little. It returned when Will promised to call him when the pups were a few weeks older and ready to start exploring, thanking him for watching them tonight.

 

Will and Connor talked for a little while before Connor started looking to Lester, trying to see if he was ready to go home again. Lester took his car keys from the counter where he’d left them rather than keeping them in his pocket all night. 

 

“Here.” He handed them to Connor. “I think you need to get home and get some sleep.”

 

Connor’s eyes widened in surprise. “You’re going to let me drive the Mercedes? Really? Oh, of course, you’ve probably had a drink so I’ll have to drive us.”

 

“Not us, just you.”

 

“So how will you get home?” Connor glanced at Will and then grinned at him. “You’re not planning on coming home, are you?” His grin widened as he scolded playfully, “You dirty stop-out!”

 

Lester glared. “You could walk home…” 

 

Connor grabbed the keys and picked up his bag, hurrying out of the door before Lester could change his mind about the Mercedes.

 

“And be careful,” Lester called after him. “If I get a speeding ticket, you’ll be walking to work for the next year!”

 

As the car drove away, Connor waving from the driver’s seat, Lester sighed. Will just laughed. 

 

“You never did tell me how you ended up with him living with you,” Will commented as he took off his jacket, hanging it over the back of a chair.

 

“I found him in his office in his underwear one morning; he’d been sleeping there after Abby, the last person he’d insinuated himself into the home of, asked him to move out.”

 

Will smiled. “And so you took him in? That was kind of you, James.”

 

“Nonsense. I just was trying to avoid the administrative nightmare he would have caused had anyone discovered that he was living at the ARC. And especially as he was keeping those damn pets of his there too.”

 

Will’s smile grew wider. “Of course you were. No matter what you say, James, I’ve seen you around him and Mark and the others. You like them, really.”

 

“Scandalous accusations,” Lester grumbled, not willing to admit that maybe Will was correct.

 

“So would Sid and Nancy be his pets?” Will asked. “You mentioned them earlier to deter him from asking for a puppy. They aren’t friendly?”

 

Lester opened his mouth to answer and closed it again. How could he accurately describe Sid and Nancy? They were destructive, ate anything in sight whether it was edible or not, they squeaked all night long, drooled in his shoes (when they weren’t chewing on them), constantly tried to climb onto the bed when he was sleeping… He had woken up to find Nancy sitting on his bed, staring at him, waiting for him to wake up an pay her some attention yesterday morning.

 

“They’re friendly, if a little too boisterous,” Lester told him. “The damn things cost me a fortune in shoes; they seem rather partial to Italian leather.”

 

“He can’t cage them when he’s out, or confine them to a room?”

 

Lester laughed. “We tried, but they chewed through the wire of their cage.” He saw Will’s surprise, adding, “Wire doesn’t really present them with much of a challenge; they can eat through a plaster wall if they feel so inclined.”

 

“You’ll have to introduce me sometime.”

 

Lester nodded, falling silent as he tried to think of something else to say. He knew what he was doing, talking about the critters and Connor more as a way of putting off the real conversation, namely what had begun back at the hotel. It wasn’t that he regretted it, or that he wanted to avoid a repeat of it, but he was completely out of practice at this whole dating game. He hadn’t been on a date, except tonight, since before he and his ex had got engaged and that had been a lot of years ago. Added to that the fact that despite his dalliances with men whilst at University, he had never gone out on a date with any of them.

 

“I wanted-”

“About what-”

 

They both looked at each other, stopping, before adding together, “You go first.”

 

Will held up his hand to stop Lester. “James, I don’t want you to feel uncomfortable. What happened earlier was lovely, and I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want a repeat, but if you don’t-”

 

Lester cut him off in mid sentence, moving closer to pull Will into a kiss. Parting, he smiled.

 

“Now, where were we?”

 

Will slid an arm around Lester’s waist, his fingers hot on Lester’s skin even though his shirt, and pulled him closer.

 

“Right about here, I think,” Will replied, kissing him again.

 

~.~

 

Lester’s best attempts to get back into his flat unnoticed for a change of clothes were thwarted rather noisily by Sid and Nancy. As he let himself in, closing the door quietly behind him, he heard the pattering of clawed feet and the insistent squeaking of hungry Diictodons. Of course, usually, whoever got up first gave them their breakfast, mainly to sidetrack them and keep them out of the way while he and Connor got ready and had their own breakfast.

 

Now the little buggers were dancing around his feet in the hope that he had food with him, their squeaks getting louder.

 

“If you shut up, I’ll feed you,” he whispered to them, waving a hand vaguely toward the kitchen and emphasising, “Dinner,” making them scamper away happily. They weren’t any quieter, but at least they weren’t under his feet any more.

 

“Did you just try to bribe Sid and Nancy?” Connor’s amused voice asked, causing Lester to look up sharply. The young man was leaning against his bedroom doorframe in just his pyjama bottoms, his hair stuck up in all directions and a huge smile on his face. “Just so I wouldn’t see you doing the walk of shame.”

 

“I’m not-”

 

Connor pushed away from the doorframe and came out into the hallway as he continued.

 

“Sneaking back in while wearing last night’s clothes, creased as though they’ve been on a bedroom floor all night. All you’re missing is your underwear stuffed into a pocket somewhere…” Connor looked him over again and Lester rolled his eyes.

 

“I do not have my underwear in my pocket!” Well, actually, he did- along with his tie and cufflinks- but he wasn’t telling Connor that. This encounter was embarrassing enough without giving him any more ammunition to work with. With whatever dignity he had left, he held his head high and walked past Connor to his bedroom. “Now, I suggest you go and deal with those pets of yours and get ready for work. Unless you don’t want a lift, of course…”

 

To his relief, Connor went off to feed Sid and Nancy, before hurrying back to his room to get dressed as Lester went into his own room and shut the door. Leaning back against it, he smiled. No matter how irritating Connor was likely to be after this, teasing him, it didn’t change the fact that he’d had a fantastic time last night. Over the years, his marriage had become more of a live-in friendship than a romantic attachment. Dates, romantic dinners, even spending time together had become a chore. He’d forgotten how much fun going out on a date could be and, despite his concerns that he was decidedly out of practice with the dating game, Will seemed to enjoy it as much as he did. 

 

“So, you had a good time, then?” Connor asked in between mouthfuls of cereal when they both sat down to breakfast. 

 

“Yes, thank you.”

 

Connor stopped eating when he heard Lester’s tone. “I’m sorry about taking the piss earlier,” he said. “He’s a nice bloke.”

 

Lester nodded. Connor really did sound sincere in his apology, and he had helped Lester to make up his mind whether to go last night or not. 

 

“He is.”

 

“Are you going out again? You should; you’ve been loads happier since you started spending time with him.”

 

As Connor went back to shovelling cereal into his mouth, Lester smiled. He was happy.

 

~.~

 

A week later, Lester found himself sitting on the floor of Will’s flat, dressed in jeans and an old jumper, as three tiny, bouncy puppies attacked him. They were still a little unsteady on their feet at times but they were adorable. Across the room, another chewed on Will’s shoelaces as the rest explored the living room on their first trip out of their pen while Ruby watched from her basket. As he played with the pups, Lester marvelled at the dog’s patience in being confined with this lot for so long. She was probably glad that someone else was keeping them busy for a while.

 

Will had called him that morning, telling him to wear something comfortable and come on over, not telling him that today was the day he was letting the puppies out for the first time. When he got here he had been greeted by all seven of the little pink-tummied over-excitable pups currently scampering around his feet.

 

Eventually the pups exhausted themselves and retreated either to the old duvet they had all been sleeping on in their pen, or tried to squeeze into Ruby’s basket with her. All except one.

 

“I think she likes you,” Will commented as the little puppy curled into a tight ball on Lester’s lap, after struggling up onto the sofa to sit with him. Any attempts to encourage her to go with the others had been met with whimpers and so he’d given up.

 

Lester picked her up from his lap gently and put her on the sofa next to him, watching as she opened her big dark eyes, staring at him. When she was sure he wasn’t going to leave her, she settled down again.

 

“I must give Connor a call,” Will continued, “I promised I would when he could come and play with them, but I wanted to share this with you first.”

 

“I’m glad.”

 

Will leaned over the sleeping puppy, curled up in between them, to brush a kiss over Lester’s cheek. 

 

“Do you want to stay tonight?” he asked, and Lester nodded. “You know, one day, you’re going to have to show me your flat,” Will teased. “I’m starting to wonder what you’ve got there that’s so scary you don’t want me to see. Apart from Connor’s mess, I mean.”

 

Try two prehistoric creatures running about, Lester thought, but Will had a point. They spent all of their time at his flat, never at Lester’s.

 

“I’m sorry that I haven’t invited you over before this. I keep imposing on you.”

 

“No! I was just joking,” Will insisted. “You could never be an imposition, believe me.”

 

“Nevertheless, I want you to visit. How about dinner?” Lester said. “I’ll cook.”

 

Will smiled. “You cook, too? Be still my heart!”

 

“Rather well, actually,” Lester informed him, ignoring the sarcasm. “Though I rarely do these days; when you’re eating alone, it seems quite pointless.” 

 

“What about Connor?”

 

Lester laughed. “Connor’s idea of good food usually comes in a microwavable container. Between his aversion to anything healthy and the long hours I work not giving me the time, it’s easier to make something simple. If you’ll have dinner with me, however, it will give me the opportunity to show off my culinary skills.”

 

“Are you trying to impress me?”

 

Lester nodded. “Is it working?”

 

“Oh yes, but I was already impressed,” Will told him. “I’m looking forward to it. Do I also get to meet the infamous Sid and Nancy?”

 

That made Lester pause. He had been hoping to convince Connor to take them to Abby’s for the day, but Will was bound to see them sooner or later. Might as well get this over with. He knew that a few background checks and a couple of signatures would allow him to tell Will about the ARC, too, but somehow that seemed presumptuous. He had no idea where this was leading, even though he hoped that Will would still be in his life in a few years, and so making that kind of gesture might be a step too far right now. No, that could wait until later as long as he made sure Will knew to keep quiet about Sid and Nancy.

 

“So, _are_ you going to stay tonight?” Will asked, repeating his earlier question.

 

“Love to.”

 

~.~

 

Lester smacked Connor’s hand with the back of a spoon as the lad reached out to dip his finger into the bowl on the counter. He pulled it away with a yelp.

 

“I warned you,” Lester pointed out as he poured the mixture into a tin and slid it into the oven. Seeing Connor still rubbing his hand, Lester sighed and passed the bowl over. “Here.”

 

Connor snatched it eagerly, retreating to the table with a spatula in hand to eat the last of the cake mixture from the bowl. Honestly, it was like cooking with his children, Lester thought, with the constant questions and them eating the ingredients before he’d had the chance to cook them. At least allowing Connor to lick the bowl out would give him a few minutes of peace.

 

A squeak made him look down. Sid and Nancy were waiting patiently by his feet. It reminded him of Connor a few minutes ago, waiting for leftovers. He cut a tomato and gave them half each.

 

“No more now,” he told them. “I need to get on.”

 

Five minutes later, and Connor was back, a smudge of cake mixture on his cheek. “Can I help? I’m bored.”

 

Lester smiled. “You can start washing up, if you want.”

 

At six o’clock the doorbell rang, just as Lester was setting out the last of the cutlery. He looked at the table, set out for two with a bottle of wine chilling in the centre and wondered if maybe this was a bit much. Too late now, he thought, as he heard Connor going to let Will in and letting himself out at the same time. He was going out to meet Danny and Becker at the pub in a thinly veiled excuse to give Lester and Will a bit of privacy.

 

“Wow, I’m definitely impressed.”

 

Lester turned to see Will saunter into the kitchen, looking around with a frown when he heard the sound of muffled squeaks and thuds. Lester had hoped that either Will would forget about wanting to meet Sid and Nancy, or that they’d stay quiet and asleep in Connor’s bedroom and then Lester could pretend to forget about introducing them. Oh well, might as well get this over with, he thought.

 

“Yes, that would be the pets,” he told Will. “I need to ask you not to mention them to anyone else; we aren’t supposed to be keeping them but Connor… well, Connor has got rather attached to them.”

 

Will smiled. “Ok, now you’re making me even more curious. Hang on, you’re serious, aren’t you? I promise I won’t talk about them, James. Now, come on, I want to see these top-secret… what did you say they were?”

 

Lester smiled. “I didn’t.”

 

As soon as he opened the door, Sid and Nancy came waddling out of Connor’s bedroom, squeaking happily. He ushered them into the living room, where Will was waiting.

 

“Will, meet Sid and Nancy. Don’t worry, they’re quite friendly.”

 

Will just stared at them. “What-?” When Nancy nudged his leg with her nose, he crouched down, hesitantly reaching out a hand to pet her, only to be knocked off balance as Sid pounced on him as well to get a share in the attention. 

 

Lester pulled Sid away, giving Will a chance to escape their attention-seeking onslaught. The other man sat on the sofa beside him, still reaching down to pet them again. He could see Will wanting to ask, but he didn’t voice the question until after dinner.

 

They’d had a lovely meal and a few glasses of wine, after which they had retreated to the living room. Sid and Nancy, shut in there to prevent them begging as Lester and Will ate, were waiting. 

 

“So what are they?” Will asked as he sat down beside Lester and watching the two little creatures cavorting around by his feet. “Is this secret place you work something like the X-Files? Are they alien? And yes, I know how ridiculous that sounded.”

 

No more ridiculous than the truth, that they had come through an anomaly from millions of years ago. “I could tell you, but then I’d have to kill you,” he teased “And I would really hate that. I kind of like having you around.”

 

“Only ‘kind of’?”

 

Smiling at the offended look on Will’s face, Lester leaned over and kissed him. “I hope you know that it’s more than that,” he said, looking Will in the eyes, all trace of teasing suddenly gone from his voice. “A lot more. I’m not very good at communicating things like this- my recently finalised divorce is a testament to that- but I care about you a great deal. In fact, I think I might be falling in love with you.”

 

Will just stared at him and Lester sighed. He really hadn’t meant to say that.

 

“Sorry. I did tell you that I wasn’t very good at things like this.”

 

“You’re not taking it back, are you?” Will asked quietly, “Because I would hate to be the only one.”

 

Lester couldn’t help the smile that tugged at his lips as he heard Will’s words. “I meant it,” he said as Will pulled him in for a long kiss.

 

~.~

 

They were still there, some time later, when Connor came home. The two Diictodons woke from their nap and scrambled toward the door, giving Lester only about thirty seconds warning to disentangle himself from Will before he heard,

 

“Oh bugger! I am so sorry! I didn’t mean to interrupt anything. Should I go away again? I can ask Abby if I can stay at her place tonight.”

 

Hearing Will snigger next to him, Lester followed his gaze and swore. He discreetly tried to fasten his clothing and give himself some degree of respectability, but it was a futile gesture. It was bloody obvious to Connor what they’d been doing. 

 

“Its fine, Connor.” Because that wouldn’t be embarrassing, Connor going to Abby and asking to stay there so that Lester and his boyfriend could shag on the sofa, he thought. And that was probably how he’d word it, too. 

 

Connor called Sid and Nancy to him. “Well, I’m going to bed and I’ll get these two out of your way as well. ‘Night.”

 

Will waited a whole minute after Connor’s door closed before he started laughing. “Poor Connor. He looked a bit embarrassed.”

 

“I cannot believe that we were caught canoodling on the sofa like a couple of teenagers.”

 

“’Canoodling’, James?”

 

“Well what would you call it?”

 

“Making out, groping,” Will suggested, looking amused at Lester’s embarrassment. “Could have called it a blow job if Connor hadn’t interrupted. Play your cards right and you still could.” 

 

Lester glanced toward the room where Connor had made a hasty retreat. “Maybe we should move this to my bedroom; I’d hate to scandalise the lad twice in one day.”

 

“Lead the way.” Will followed Lester toward his room, getting in a few good gropes of his arse on the way.

 

~.~

 

The next morning, Connor emerged from his bedroom in just his boxers, half asleep with his hair sticking up in all directions, on his usual morning quest for a cup of tea. When he reached the kitchen, however, he froze. His face turned scarlet and he bolted back to his bedroom. He returned a few minutes later, this time dressed, and got himself a cup of tea while trying to avoid making eye contact with either of them.

 

“Would you like some scrambled eggs on toast?” Lester offered, getting up to make it. As he thought, the offer of food made Connor look his way and nod, murmuring a faint ‘please’. “I’m sorry if we made you feel uncomfortable last night. We’ll make sure it doesn’t happen again.”

 

Connor shrugged his shoulders. “It’s fine; it was just weird walking in on my boss snogging on the sofa.”

 

Lester and Will shared a glance, both trying not to laugh. Thank goodness that’s all he thought they’d been doing; they must have done a better cover up job than they’d thought.

 

Seeing Connor’s discomfort at the topic of conversation, Will asked Connor, “Do you have any plans for today?” When Connor shook his head, Will continued. “Because Ruby’s pups have just started coming out to explore, and I wondered if you’d like to go see them after breakfast? I need to go back and check on them anyway.”

 

That, even more than the food, brought a smile to Connor’s face. “That’d be great!” He practically inhaled his food before racing off to his room, returning a few minutes later with his trainers on and his coat in hand, waiting eagerly.

 

“Maybe you should bring Sid and Nancy,” Will suggested. “I know you said they were a bit boisterous, but they seem friendly. And against seven puppies? I’d put my money on the pups.”

 

Connor turned to Lester, eyes wide and pleading. Lester sighed. “Will said it was okay; it’s his decision, not mine.”

 

A short time later, Will laughed at the sight of the two Diictodons waddling along happily toward Lester’s car, wearing the dog harnesses that Connor had put on them to make sure they wouldn’t escape. He couldn’t wait to see what the puppies made of those two.

 

~.~

 

It was the kind of phone call that he dreaded receiving. 

 

“I’ve got three men down, Lester,” Becker told him. “We got the thing back to the anomaly but then two more appeared out of nowhere; I think the one we were herding was a baby as the other two were fucking huge compared to it.”

 

“How bad are the injuries?” Lester asked, even as he pulled his jacket on, ready to leave as soon as he put the phone down.

 

“Dev has a head wound but he stayed conscious and we think that Danny’s arm is broken, as well as having a few nasty claw slashes but…”

 

This didn’t sound good. “But?”

 

“Mark tried to get the creatures away from Abby and Sarah and the things turned on him. He’s in bad shape. The hospital called Will, but what are we supposed to tell him when he asks what happened?”

 

“I’m on my way.”

 

Lester was at the hospital in under fifteen minutes. He was sure that he’d broken at least a couple of speed limits on the way, but he really didn’t care. There were more important things to worry about at present. He saw the team straight away, all congregated in the waiting room of the Accident and Emergency department, looking anxious. Becker had a few scrapes and bruises showing and the look on his face each time he moved told Lester that while he wasn’t letting the others know, he had suffered some other injuries too. Abby and Sarah were sitting with the rest of the soldiers, cups of tea in hand from the vending machine, while Connor fidgeted nearby. When he saw Lester, he jumped to his feet, hurrying over as Becker got to his feet with a wince of pain.

 

“Becker, go and find a nurse to check you over.”

 

Becker started to protest but Lester was firm on the matter. “Do I have to drag you over to the desk and check you in myself? Sarah, could you please make sure he co-operates?”

 

Sarah nodded, looking relieved to have something to do, and led him to the reception desk.

 

“Has anyone told you anything about how they’re doing?” Lester asked Connor. 

 

“They won’t tell us anything because we’re not family or next of kin.”

 

Lester straightened his tie and took his ID from his pocket. “They’ll bloody well talk to me,” he said, marching over to the desk.

 

Five minutes after Lester finished scaring some information out of one of the nurses, the doors burst open and Will ran in, heading for the girl on the reception desk.

 

“Excuse me, but I was told that my brother, Mark Andrews, has been brought in-” 

 

“Will!” When he turned, Lester fought the urge to pull him into a hug. He looked dreadful, his face pale and eyes frantic with worry.

 

“James, is he alright? They said it was serious.”

 

Lester nodded to the receptionist that he’d handle this, and led Will to sit down. “There was an incident; a few of the team were injured, Mark included. He has some pretty serious injuries but when I enquired a few minutes ago, the doctors were still treating him.”

 

They sat in silence for a while, Abby bringing them both a cup of tea. Will leaned his elbows on his knees, his head in his hands. It seemed like an eternity before the inevitable question was asked.

 

“What happened?”

 

“As I said, there was an incident-”

 

“What kind of ‘incident’? Damn it, James, he’s my little brother. I’ve got a right to know!”

 

“The details fall under the Official Secrets Act, as does the rest of the project,” Lester told him. “You know that.”

 

Will turned to glare at him. “What I _know_ is that my brother has been hurt, badly enough for them to call me at work and tell me that I need to come here as soon as I can although they won’t tell me the details about _how_ he’s hurt, and my boyfriend, who actually _does_ know what the fuck happened to him, won’t fucking tell me!”

 

Lester glanced around at the others, seeing them avert their eyes when he looked their way, and tried to get Will to lower his voice but Will shook him off, standing up.

 

“Will, I could lose my job if I tell you.”

 

“Well you’d better work out what’s important to you, James, because you’re going to lose _me_ if you don’t,” Will snapped as he stormed out of the waiting room, out of the main doors.

 

Lester sat back down, not sure what to do. He really didn’t want to lose Will, he loved him and he could see where the man was coming from; if their situations were reversed he probably would have acted exactly the same. On the other hand, he knew the consequences of breaking the Official Secrets Act, they all did, and had signed a binding agreement not to discus the ARC project. 

 

“Lester, what are you doing?” He looked up as Connor dropped down into the chair next to him. “Go and find him, don’t just sit here.” He lowered his voice as he added, “You’ve been happier for the last few months, when you’ve been with him. Are you really willing to just let him walk away?”

 

Lester frowned at Connor, though whether it was for discussing his love life in public or for being right, he wasn’t sure.

 

“And if the only thing standing in the way of that is some stupid piece of paper, then get him to sign it too. Problem solved,” Connor told him. “Well, what are you waiting for?”

 

Flashing Connor a grateful smile and wondering when exactly the kid got so smart Lester stood up to follow Will. He found him outside, leaning against the wall and watching an ambulance pull into the drop off zone nearby. When Lester approached, he straightened up.

 

“Has something happened?”

 

Lester shook his head. “No, we’re still waiting. Connor will come out to get us when the doctor returns.”

 

Will sagged back against the wall. “So what do you want?”

 

“To talk. What you said earlier… I don’t want to lose you,” Lester began. “And you were correct; you have a right to know what happened.”

 

“James, I should never have given you that ultimatum. I don’t want to get you into trouble-” 

 

Moving closer, Will pressed between him and the wall, Lester silenced him with a kiss. “Do you still want to know? I’ll have to ask you to sign a few papers later on, confidentiality agreements and such.”

 

Will nodded and followed as Lester led him to the low wall that ran along the side of the ambulance bay. A stressed-looking man had just come outside to sneak a cigarette, edging closer to them as though wanting to talk, and Lester didn’t want to be overheard.

 

“I’m not even sure that you’re going to believe me,” Lester told him, wondering how to start. How exactly does one say ‘I’m sorry, but it was a dinosaur that attacked your brother’ without being laughed at? 

 

Will looked slightly confused. “Why wouldn’t I believe you?”

 

Lester smiled. “We’ll see.” He purposefully didn’t look at Will as he began to talk, wanting to get this out. “You remember when you asked me what Sid and Nancy were, and I couldn’t tell you? Well, they’re Diictodons. They’re a type of prehistoric mammal that lived millions of years ago and they came here through what we call an anomaly- it’s kind of like a rip in time. We discovered the anomalies about three years ago when something distinctively more dangerous than Sid and Nancy came through one. They kept appearing and, soon after that, the ARC project was set up to deal with them. The teams try to return the creatures back to their own times before the anomaly closes and traps them here, while trying to minimise the damage they cause.” He risked a glance at Will. “So, do you think I’m insane yet?”

 

“I don’t know. You’re asking me to believe that dinosaurs are able to come wandering through holes in time, and that you run some kind of… what? Top secret dinosaur hunting squad.”

 

Lester sighed. “That makes is sound like one of Connor’s comic books but, in essence, yes.”

 

“If anyone but you had told me that, I would think it was a tall tale,” Will told him, studying Lester’s eyes as though gauging his sincerity. Whatever he saw must have convinced him. “Is that what they were doing today?”

 

“Yes. The creature was a baby; they had almost got it back to the anomaly when the parents came looking for it. According to Connor, when the creatures turned on them, Mark put himself between it and Abby and Sarah to protect them.”

 

Will smiled. “That sounds like Mark. When we were kids he always used to look out for me, even though I was the eldest and it was supposed to be the other way around. He still does it; I’ve had to stop him from ‘paying a little visit’, as he puts it, to a couple of exes over the years.”

 

Before Lester could reply, he noticed Connor come out of the hospital, looking around for them and waving them over.

 

“Come on; it looks as though the doctor has returned.”

 

He and Will stood up, Will taking Lester’s hand and making him pause. “Thank you, James.”

 

~.~

 

Mark was released from the hospital two days later, his injuries not quite as bad as the amount of blood had made them seem. He wouldn’t be at work for a while, though, nor would a couple of the others. Danny was out of action with a plaster cast on his arm and three butterfly-taped gashes across his shoulder, and Becker’s cracked ribs meant that he was restricted to desk duty for the next few weeks along with Danny. Dev seemed to be fine and had been signed off as fit for duty by the medics, his head injury causing no lasting problems.

 

Will was taking the whole thing rather well, Lester decided. He had come in to sign the necessary paperwork a few days earlier, after which, Lester had shown him the rest by taking him down to the menagerie. 

 

“Is it dangerous?” Will asked when they reached the mammoth enclosure, backing away as Manny put his trunk through the bars to snuffle Lester. 

 

Lester offered the apple he’d put in his pocket before coming down here. Manny took it from Lester gently and devoured it in one crunch before looking out in case there were more treats. 

 

“No, he’s not.”

 

“This is so weird, standing here and watching you feeding a mammoth. You treat him as though he was a pet.”

 

“Maybe I do have a slight fondness for him; he saved my life once,” Lester told Will. “The least I can do is to bring him a treat every so often.”

 

Will frowned. “I’m not sure I’m going to want to know the answer, but how on earth did a mammoth save you?”

 

Lester patted Manny’s trunk as he snuffled at Lester again, this time ruffling his hair. “A few years ago, I was trapped in the ARC with a future predator. I was wounded and knew that it would kill me if it got hold of me and so as a last resort I opened Manny’s enclosure. I like to think he was protecting me but in reality he was probably as pissed off with the predator as I was. Anyway, the damn thing was no match for those tusks.”

 

“I’m almost sorry I asked.”

 

“It’s ok. I know this is a lot to take in-”

 

Will shook his head. “It’s not that. I just hate to think of you in that kind of danger, hurt and fighting for your life. Now that I know what you all face every day, I’m going to spend a lot of my time worrying about it.”

 

“If it helps, I spend most days in my office and not having to face prehistoric or futuristic creatures,” Lester told him, glancing around to make sure that none of the other staff were nearby before he gave Will a quick peck on the lips. “But I do like the fact that you’ll be worrying about me.”

 

~.~

 

Lester stood at the door to Will’s home, watching as the young couple and their nine year old daughter walked away, carrying the little ginger puppy. Beside him, Will made a sound that was dangerously close to a sniffle although Lester knew he’d deny it later.

 

“Thanks for staying here with me for this,” Will said as they went back inside. “I wish I could keep them all but it just wouldn’t be practical.”

 

Both men looked into the living room as Will spoke, seeing the remaining three puppies playing with a dog toy and jumping away, startled, whenever one of them managed to make it squeak.

 

“They’re all going to good homes,” Lester reminded him. “You made sure of it; that little girl and her parents will give Frodo all of the love and attention he wants.” He paused before adding, “And hopefully a new name. I did say that letting Connor name some of the puppies was a bad idea.”

 

Will smiled; they had been naming the puppies before they were sold, mainly because it felt wrong to let them go without a name. He wasn’t expecting their new owners to keep the names, of course. “There’s only one more to name now,” he said, stooping to pick up the little female pup, watching as Lester reached over to scratch the little white stripe under her chin. The pup squirmed to get to him and Lester took her. “And I think you should do it.”

 

“Me?” Lester had never been asked to name a pet before. His mother had seen hair-shedding pets as something incompatible with her perfectly pristine home and would never let him have one, and his children had named their own gerbils, hamsters and goldfish over the years.

 

“Yes, because I want you to have her,” Will told him. “I know she’s your favourite and I just couldn’t bear to let her go.”

 

“But the hours I work…” Even as he said it, he knew that Connor would gladly come home to walk her at lunch time, and it wasn’t as though he lived far away from the ARC. He could nip home during lunch to take her for a walk and play with her for a while, and if he was going to be late home, Connor would happily walk her and keep her company. “I don’t know what to say.”

 

“Say yes. She could even stay here with Ruby during the day, if you needed,” Will offered.

 

Lester looked down at the puppy in his arms. He couldn’t say no, didn’t want to. Shifting her to the side he leaned in to kiss Will. 

 

“Thank you.” 

 

In his arms, the puppy looked between them before struggling to turn around. Almost sitting in Lester’s hands, her paws on his chest, she stretched up as far as she could to lick his chin. As he wiped off the puppy slobber, he smiled. His first pet. 

 

“So, what _are_ you going to call her?”

 

But Lester had no idea. Still cuddling the little puppy, he followed Will back into the living room to think it over while they waited for the retired schoolteacher who was also coming to collect one of the pups today.

 

“I’m going to come second to her from now on, aren’t I?” Will joked, watching as Lester sat down with the puppy on his lap, talking to her softly.

 

“No, of course not. It’s more like joint first,” Lester assured him with a smile. “And only you will be sharing my bed at night.”

 

Will laughed. “I should hope so.”

 

“I need to get her some things: baskets, bowls, toys. A collar and lead for when she’s old enough to go for walks. And food: What do puppies eat? And I’ll need to puppy-proof the flat, not that it will take much doing as we moved everything dangerous when Sid, Nancy and Connor moved in.” 

 

“She can stay here until you’ve got what you need,” Will offered.

 

“Thanks. Do you want to come with me to Pet World on Sunday? I get the feeling I’ll buy all the wrong things if I don’t have someone to point me in the right direction. I’ll take you out to dinner afterwards to say thank you.” Lester stopped suddenly, looking down at his puppy. “I could call you Lily... No, I see you’re not too keen on that,” he said as tiny teeth began chewing at his sleeve. “Daisy?” he suggested, lifting his arm out of reach.

 

“You could let Connor help you name her, as long as you wanted her named after a character from Lord of the Rings or Star Wars,” Will teased, with a pointed look to where Gandalf and Chewbacca were playing.

 

Lester shook his head. “I think not. What about Ginger?” The puppy’s ears perked up and Lester smiled. “I’ll take that as a good sign- she’s not chewing my sleeve this time. Ginger it is.”  

 

~.~

 

There was something awfully familiar about all of this, Lester thought as he stood at the bar, watching as his team of soldiers and civilians danced and laughed, getting wilder the more they drank, their voices getting louder as they attempted to shout to each other over the top of the music. Noise, Lester corrected himself. It wasn’t music, it was noise. Why did they always have to come to a club? This time, it was Abby’s birthday and so she had chosen the venue. Just once, he’d like them to pick a nice quiet pub to go to after the restaurant…

 

“Lester, you’re all on your own over here! Come and dance with us!”

 

Oh, hell. He saw Abby and Sarah reaching out their hands to him and realised that, standing up against the bar he had nowhere to retreat. With a desperate look around in search of an escape route, Lester fended off the women, grateful when someone intervened.

 

“Sorry, ladies, but his dance card is full for tonight,” Will told them, moving up beside Lester and sliding an arm around his waist. The women giggled, making ‘aww’ noises, but it wasn’t until Will kissed him that they finally gave up. Realising that Lester had something more interesting to do than dance, they wandered away toward a couple of the soldiers, trying their luck with them instead.

 

“Thanks.”

 

“I assure you that my motives were entirely selfish. Now, you owe me…”

 

Lester smiled. “And what exactly did you have in mind to repay this supposed debt?”

 

“You have to dance with _me_ when we get home,” Will said, lowering his voice to whisper into Lester’s ear, “clothing optional.”

 

Lester’s burst of laughter made Abby and Sarah look their way again, the knowing smiles on their faces causing Lester’s face to heat up. 

 

“We’ve been here for a while; do you think they’d mind if we left now?”

 

Will smiled. “Don’t be such a party pooper; I know you’re enjoying yourself really. Besides, Abby would certainly mind and, incidentally, so would the bartender who’s been eyeing you up for the past half hour.”

 

Lester turned to look, catching the eye of the blonde twenty-something man behind the bar and smiling self consciously. The man winked at him, making Lester turn away quickly as Will laughed.

 

“Why on earth would he be staring at me? He’s-” Lester paused, looking at Will.

 

“You can say he’s gorgeous and I won’t be offended. He is. And so are you, although you don’t seem to realise it.” Will looked at the bartender again. “You know, we could probably convince him to come home with us to play with…” 

 

Lester shook his head. “I do not pick up strange men in bars.”

 

“Yes you do and it’s a good thing, too, or we’d never have met.”

 

“That was different. I wasn’t ‘picking you up’.”

 

Will’s smile widened. “So it’s not the idea of a threesome that you object to, just that he’s a stranger? Interesting…” 

 

“I didn’t say that!” Lester protested, though now the idea had been planted in his mind, he couldn’t deny that he was thinking about it. The bartender was extremely sexy- lovely smile, big green eyes, and those arms… Lester wasn’t usually into men with tattoos but the tight-fitting t-shirt that the man wore was giving him tantalising glimpses of the ones on his biceps and Lester would have liked to investigate them further. He wondered just how hot it would look with him and Will together… Lester shook his head to get rid of those thoughts.

 

 He’d had too much to drink, they both had, that was the only reason they were even discussing this. “You’re doing this on purpose. You’re a bad influence on me, Mr Andrews.”

 

Will’s innocent expression didn’t convince Lester in the slightest. “Who, me?” 

 

“Yes, you. Now behave yourself.”

 

“Sorry James. You can spank me later.”

 

The unfortunate lull in the music meant that the entire team, and the cute bartender, caught those words. For a moment there was a shocked silence as Lester silently prayed for an anomaly to open up and swallow him, and then a burst of laughter broke the spell. Lester glared at Will. 

 

“Oops?”

 

“Indeed,” Lester replied. He could already hear the teasing he’d get at work.

 

Later, as everyone got ready to leave, Lester was surprised when Abby came up to give him a hug. 

 

“I’m glad you came,” she said, “It means a lot to me that you did.”

 

He returned the hug, somewhat awkwardly. While it was clear that she was inebriated and she had hugged everyone else as well, the sentiment was genuine. She really had wanted him here. “My pleasure. Happy Birthday, Abby.”

 

Abby glanced at Will, standing nearby. “He’s good for you, you know; we were all getting worried about you before, working all the time, but you’ve looked happy since you met him,” she said, adding, “And he _is_ cute.”

 

“Yes, he is,” Lester agreed in a low voice, making her laugh before she hurried off to catch up with Sarah.

 

Looking around at the rest of them as they waited for taxis, he smiled. Though he would never admit it to the others, even under pain of death, he’d quite enjoyed himself tonight. Sure it had been noisy and crowded, and he would rather have spent a quiet evening at home, but it had been fun. He’d worried what the team would think when he brought Will with him, if they would treat him differently, but they hadn’t. They’d simply included Will as well. 

 

Maybe they weren’t so bad after all.

 

                                              

 

 


End file.
